Public Statements

Infrastructure Jobs and Energy Independence

Floor Speech

Mr. DONNELLY of Indiana. I thank my esteemed colleague, who also serves in the Naval Reserves. We thank you for your service to our country in that role as well.

This is an extraordinary bill that is about jobs, jobs, jobs, energy independence, and a stronger America. It cuts across party lines and solves so many problems that we face, including assisting in bringing our deficit down. It is a commonsense piece of legislation that puts the United States first.

We have vast energy resources, and we should be utilizing them. Instead of sending $500 billion a year overseas to other countries that, as my friend from Minnesota said, we don't have to pay them to make sure they like us, they'll just not like us without any payment at all, what we need to do is stand up for America, to not worry about whether or not we can keep other countries happy in order to obtain their oil.

We need to stand up for America--our own natural gas, our own ethanol, our own biodiesel, our own nuclear, our own wind, our own solar. In doing that in all of these areas, you put other people to work. In the steel mills of northern Indiana, where I live, these mills are pumping out product for the oil patch. They're pumping out product to make the wind turbines. Across the board, you see jobs created in Indiana. But that

applies to all 50 States.

You have almost a trillion dollars for roads and bridges that will be built throughout our country. And when you look at this, this answers the call. When folks say how can we get America to work together, how can we get America to stands up for itself, this answers the call: people going back to work; the deficit being reduced; manufacturing here in the United States. Across the board, it strengthens our Nation. So instead of wondering about how we can move forward, we have an answer as to how to do that.

I'm thrilled to be working with my colleagues to work together to strengthen our Nation, to reduce our deficit, to make it in America, and to become energy independent. We have enough natural gas in this country--just natural gas alone--to run our vehicles for the next hundred years. If we go across the spectrum, we can create incredible wealth and an incredible future for our N